WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed the Secure Equipment Act of 2021 (S. 1790), which aims to restrict the deployment of telecommunications and video surveillance equipment manufactured by China-based companies that are considered a national security risk. The Secure Equipment Act would ban the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from considering or issuing authorization of products from companies on the agency’s “Covered Equipment or Services,” which includes Dahua, Hikvision, Huawei, Hytera Technologies and ZTE Corp. In June, the FCC introduced proposed rulemaking that could go beyond what’s required in the Secure Equipment Act, allowing the agency to revoke previously issued authorizations to companies. The House bill was sponsored by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) “I am grateful that the Senate and House passed this bill, which will help keep compromised equipment from bad actors out of critical American infrastructure.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 29, 2021 16:03 UTC